


not quite purple flowers

by Rhyolite



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Don’t copy to another site, Gen, mention of offscreen character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-11
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-06-26 13:38:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19769323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhyolite/pseuds/Rhyolite
Summary: Eponine gardens.





	not quite purple flowers

**Author's Note:**

> I just finished reading the brick, and the scene where Eponine waters Mabeuf's plants made me want to write something about her and gardening.

When she was younger, Eponine tried to grow flowers in the back yard of her parents's house. They all died eventually, though.

...

Eponine is angry. She's talking angrily on the phone, and her hands are full of bags of groceries, and she's trying to unlock the door, and her key won't work. Her keys rattle as they slam against the door, and she can't find the right one, and now she's being informed that Gavroche did _something_ at school - she isn't paying enough attention to the voice on the phone to know what because her arms are full and she can't find her key, what if she's lost it and -

She says, "Look, this is a bad time right now, can I call you later?" into the phone and hangs up before she gets her reply.

She sighs, which is somehow closer to a sob, and slumps down to sit against her door in the dimly lit hallway, her groceries spread around her.

"Would you like a cup of tea?"

She looks up. "What?"

"Tea," Mabeuf repeats. "I was going to make some, and you look like you could use a mug of tea."

Eponine sighs. She's met Mabeuf before, but mostly just in passing, or when they're both on their balconies and she compliments him on the enormous amounts of potted plants that his is adorned with. "Sure," she says.

Ten minutes later, both Eponine and Mabeuf have large mugs full of herbal tea, and are sitting on his balcony/garden. They talk about Gavroche, and losing keys and flowers. Eponine helps him water the plants, and asks questions about the flowers that he's trying to breed, the ones that aren't quite blue and aren't quite purple.

Eponine ends up calling Grantaire so that he can bring her his copy of her key, and Mabeuf gives her a potted flower that's not quite purple, and instructions on how to keep it alive.

...

She keeps the plant alive, and eventually gets more to put in her tiny kitchen and on her balcony. The not-quite-purple flower produces seeds, which she plants in pots on her balcony. She trades seeds and talks about gardening and plants with Mabeuf from her balcony or over a cup of herbal tea.

...

When Mabeuf dies, she learns that he left most of his plants to her. 

...

"Here," Eponine says, handing Gavroche a bucket of water, and pointing to one side of her plant-filled balcony. "You get the ones on that side, and I'll do the ones on this side."

Gavroche takes the water reluctantly with both hands - it's heavy. Water sloshes onto his feet. "Why can't you do it?" he mutters."They're your _your_ plants."

Eponine gives him a look that says that he should stop complaining and water the plants.

Gavroche sighs, and waters the plants. "Where'd you get them, anyway?"

"Someone gave them to me," Eponine says, "when he died."

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos make me super happy! <3


End file.
